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September 6, 2020 – Sunflower!!

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I did not do a great job on my garden (again) this year. I planted a little too late, but told myself it would be alright. It’s not too bad, but I get impatient watching my neighbors enjoy healthy, punctual gardens while I wait. I am waiting on some ugly tomatoes to turn red and I keep picking humongous cucumbers. We also waited and waited for our sunflowers to bloom. It finally happened!! Yesterday we looked out our window at breakfast and saw our first sunflower had opened up wide!

Sunflower – by giggleFritz

I’ve decided next year we will plant our garden using a Fall theme. We will plant sunflowers, pumpkins, garden mums, marigolds, and zinnias. We can enjoy the zinnias and marigolds during most of the summer. In Fall we will have a nice harvest theme going on. All the other stuff is getting to be too much work, and I don’t have a very big area to work with. I will be happy with some Fall produce.

With DD back in school, I have been working on sock monkeys and Note to Self Mini books. We are off for Labor Day weekend and afterward I will add more items to the online shop. I won’t be participating in any craft fairs for the rest of the year. It seems everything is cancelled for the year, or will be soon. I will keep working on getting all my ducks in a row until the next fair.

I hope your Fall is starting off healthy and happy!

Have wonderful Monday!

Missie S.

August 28, 2020 – Back to School, Back to Work!

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Our DD went back to school this week. So far, things have gone smoothly at school. At home is a slightly different matter. School has been out for 5+ months instead of the normal three month summer break. Yesterday, and today, getting our sweet six year old out of bed was a chore. We have been met with a few, “I want to do what I want!” Things will be better when we establish a routine.

It was difficult to prepare for “Back to School” time. We made sure we got outside every day that we could. We checked our garden every day and picked pole beans and zinnias. (The rest of our garden is late or not showing up to the party.) I gave DD lots of free time to play dollhouse and Minecraft, her latest obsession. (Don’t worry. We have designated screen times so our brains don’t rot out of our heads.) We slowly gathered our school supplies from around the house, the store, and online. I also have been prepping food for freezer meals and lunches. I may write more about this later. In the end, we are back to school. So, now I am back to work.

Monarch in Zinnias – by giggleFritz and Co.

Time to get busy. Have a Fantastic Friday!

Missie S.

July 3, 2020 – Fresh-cut Hay

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Yesterday, was grocery shopping day. I usually shop in the evening after DH is done with work. However, the weather has been hot and humid and I wanted to get done early so I could hibernate for the rest of the day. I drove to a store nearby armed with my grocery shopping list and the truck windows rolled down. I left the radio off. It was nice to have some freaking peace for a change!

As I drove through the country it felt like GOOD summer. What is GOOD summer? I hate summer. 95% of summer is summer I suffer through. It is hot, humid, mosquito summer. Everything I do in summer is to distract myself to get through summer and embrace fall. But, yesterday morning was that 5% I actually like about summer. It was sunny and cool, and a wonderful smell filled my truck cab. It was the smell of fresh-cut hay!

Fresh Cut Hay

Smelling that hay field was the highlight of my day!

Grocery shopping was fine. I only had time to go to one store. Some of the people were wearing masks, but most were not. Wisconsin is not a state that mandates mask wearing. We are pretty spread out in the country and do not have a high infection rate. Milwaukee and Madison’s infection rates have increased. Pretty soon they will mandate masks, I think.

We spent the rest of the day keeping cool inside. I made homemade pizza/calzones for dinner. I used up some sourdough discard for the crust, and made crust dough for two pizzas that went in the freezer. It was a productive, hot summer day.

Tomorrow is the 4th of July. It seems like half of the country hates our country, and the other half is looking forward to fireworks. Then again, that is what the media wants us to think. I wonder how it will pan out.

Keep cool on this hot, humid 3rd of July!

Missie S.

June 26, 2020 – Stormy Weather and another Gorgeous Sunset

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Two nights ago we had some stormy weather in the evening. Naturally, I was excited to take some scary storm pictures. I also anticipated another gorgeous sunset. I was not disappointed!

Here Comes the Storm!
Sunset After the Storm
Sunset After the Storm – Later

I LOVE these pictures! The camera on my phone does a decent job of capturing the color, but I wish I could show you what WE saw. The storm cloud photo was much scarier in person.

Other than taking a few wonderful pictures, my days are pretty repetitive. I still haven’t been making anything. DD6 is home all day everyday and she is my main focus. I’ve been cleaning, cooking, playing, watching birds, running, and taking care of my garden. When I read all that, it sounds wonderful. In reality, it is getting monotonous. It would be nice to get out more. It would be nice if the kids were in school and learning with their friends. However, I KNOW we are blessed. I am thankful to God for all we have!

I must get moving. Time progresses quickly when I am busy and I can’t WAIT for the end of the day when the beautiful sunset arrives! The weather forecast shows severe storms for our area this evening, again. Hopefully, I can share some more beauties tomorrow.

Have a wonderful day!

Missie S.

June 23, 2020 – Beautiful Sunset

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I haven’t been very consistent in many areas of life these last few months. However, I have noticed a trend in the subject of pictures I take. Sunsets. I have been taking a lot of pictures of sunsets.

At the end of the day when I am winding down, I notice the sunset from one of our windows. We have a wonderful view of the setting sun to the West. The colors are amazing and I naturally reach for my camera. This picture is last night’s sunset.

Clouds Rolling in at Sunset
Clouds Rolling in Farther at Sunset

Tonight, there is a front coming in and I will have to snap a shot for tomorrow.

Have a wonderful evening!

Missie S.

June 13, 2020 – Out and About

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Hello, All!

Today, I got out of the house and it was NOT for grocery shopping! I met my oldest DD and we had coffee and caught up a bit. Afterward, we dropped by Hobby Lobby and browsed the store. We had so much fun just looking at EVERYTHING!

I haven’t been to Hobby Lobby or done any fun shopping since March, so almost three months. They were moving the Fall decorations into place and some of the Christmas was out on the side shelves. We looked at the jewelry section a nice, long time. It was great to imagine and plan future projects!

Hobby Lobby Christmas Aisle June 2020

I picked up a few necessities for making sock monkeys, but I also found something completely unnecessary for myself. I don’t usually wear jewelry, but today I purchased this sweet pendant. I love the tree and the colors in here.

Lovely Tree Pendant

It was great to be “out and about” for a short time today. Perhaps being “in and around” tomorrow won’t be so bad now.

Happy Saturday!

Missie S.